


What Makes A Qunari

by Cyberfairie



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Adoribull - Freeform, Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-27
Updated: 2015-08-27
Packaged: 2018-04-17 11:53:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4665591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cyberfairie/pseuds/Cyberfairie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a fill for an Adoribull Sunday Prompt that got away from me.<br/>The original prompt was:<br/>Adoribull Sunday Prompt – Adoribull – Vashoth!Dorian Qunari! Bull – Demands of the Qun.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What Makes A Qunari

Dorian had always kept his distance from The Iron Bull.  It wasn’t that he doubted the Inquisitor when she said that Bull was loyal to the Inquisition, after all Evelyn tended to have good instincts.  But instincts weren’t proof and you didn’t survive being a Vashoth Saarebas by being sloppy, even if his parents had had the good sense to head as far south as possible when they’d fled Par Vollen.

Still, distance didn’t mean he was unaware of The Iron Bull’s actions.  On the contrary, Dorian thought it prudent to keep an ear open for anything odd relating to the former secret, now not so secret, Ben-Hassrath spy.  Which is why when Dorian found out about the Qun wanting an alliance with the Inquisition the first thing he’d done was tell Evelyn to not trust a word Bull’s contact had to say…the second thing had been to pack his bags.

Because dealing with one Ben-Hassrath spy was different from the Inquisition suddenly welcoming a Beresaad through Skyhold’s gates.  Bull might be telling Evelyn that the Qun had no interest in sending troops this far south, but Dorian didn’t share the spy’s optimism.  Well, either that or telling the Inquisitor that the Qunari would be more likely to just extend their information sharing was what Bull had been told to say.

Either way, Dorian hadn’t slept well since the pair of them had left Skyhold five days ago with Varric, Solas and the Chargers in tow.  The first three nights he could blame on wanting to get adequate documentation completed about his studies just in case a quick departure from Skyhold was required, but the last two had been for a completely different reason.  One he was much less happy about having to admit to.

Because it would seem that his warnings to Evelyn had been valid, the entire venture a test not only of the Inquisition’s commitment but also of Bull’s loyalty.  Evie’s note had been short, as they tended to be when sent by raven, but apparently Bull had been faced with either letting the Chargers die or being declared Tal-Vashoth.

Dorian could admit he had been slightly surprised when he had continued reading to discover the hulking warrior had chosen his team without hesitation, despite the consequences.  Which is what had led to the last two sleepless nights.  Because while Dorian couldn’t imagine what his life would be like under the Qun, he was quite certain that as much as Bull walked the line he had never imagined living his own life _not_ under it.

 

Which, Dorian supposed did as much to explain what he was doing here, standing outside Bull’s quarters with the a bottle of Maraas-Lok he’d had tucked away since the last time he’d encountered a Tal-Vashoth trader, as anything did.  Because as horrible as the thought of having his lips sewn together and a collar placed around his neck was, Dorian could only imagine how Bull felt being declared the sort of outcast he’d hunted for years.

Knocking at the door, Dorian was unsurprised to hear the sharply called out, “Not now.”

Telling himself death was the worst The Iron Bull could do Dorian twisted the knob, somewhat more surprised when it turned easily in his hand.  He quickly stepped inside before Bull could decide that had been an oversight and slam the door in his face, and had to work to make out the warrior in the room lit only by a fading fire. 

“Come to gloat?”  Bull’s deep voice called out from the far corner of the room, shadows shifting slightly now that Dorian knew where to look.

Snorting, Dorian flicked his wrist and set the fire to roaring, illuminating the room so he could at least see Bull’s shape as he held out the bottle in his hand as an offering.  “Came to drink actually.  But I can leave if you’d rather be alone.  I should warn you however, the Maraas-Lok and I are a package deal.”

Dorian could see Bull straighten.  “Real Maraas-Lok or that shit you Vashoth like to pretend is the real stuff?”

“Having never been to Par Vollen I can’t swear as to the authenticity of it, but it has all these pretty little seals and everything,” Dorian smirked, flicking his hand to light one of the wall sconces near Bull’s corner.  “Veshedan, you look like shit.”

“Looking a little too grey for you?” Bull growled, kicking a chair out from under the table and motioning for Dorian to sit.

“Humm, and I held off the Tal-Vashoth jokes thinking it might be too soon,” Dorian admitted, dropping into the chair and pulling the cork from the bottle as he looked around for a glass or two.  Shrugging when he didn’t find any he took a long pull directly from the bottle before passing it to Bull.

Dorian hadn’t been lying, up close Bull looked even worse than Dorian had expected and he doubted the warrior had slept in the four days since the dreadnaught went down.  Exhaustion didn’t seem to affect the man’s ability to drink however and Dorian found himself raising a brow as Bull swallowed the equivalent of several shots of the potent brew before dropping the bottle back onto the table.

Reaching out to slap Dorian on the shoulder Bull growled, “Fuck, that’s the good stuff alright.  You can tell by the way it waits to burn until you try to take a breath.”

“Yes, nothing I like more than my drinks trying to steal my very breath.”

“Shit yeah!” Bull chuffed, reaching for another drink before turning the full of his attention to Dorian.  “So, why now?”

Dorian felt like he’d been sucker punched.  How in Andraste’s sweet ass had he never before notice just how handsome The Iron Bull was?  Oh, not in a pretty way, the man had seen too much in his life for that to be true, but not even the outer scars could stop him from being mesmerizing.  Staring at Dorian now with that one stormy grey eye looking at him like no one else existed in the world, his lips twisted in just a hint of smile and Dorian suddenly felt like being here alone with Bull was infinitely more dangerous now than it had been when he was a spy.  Because now there was nothing to stop him from thinking such thoughts, nothing to keep him from becoming just another one of Bull’s numerous bed partners. 

“Dorian?”

Shit.  He had asked a question…oh, yes.  Dorian reached for the bottle and took a swig himself before shoving it back Bull’s way.  “Honestly?  Because I thought it might help you to know that no matter what the Qun taught you you’re going to be just fine without it.”

Bull snorted.  “Bit sure of yourself aren’t you?”

“No, well, yes.  But in this case it has more to do with you.  You chose your men Bull, you didn’t have to and there were certainly enough reasons no one would have blamed you if you hadn’t but you did.  You already know where your center is and you followed it.  You don’t need the Qun to point out the path for you.”

Bull looked away then, raising the bottle to his lips and draining the last of the Maaras-Lok before dropping the empty bottle back to the table.  His attention still focused on something not physically in the room Bull finally whispered, “Do you know how many Tal-Vashoth I’ve killed?”

There didn’t seem to be a good answer so Dorian kept quiet, content to wait out the larger man.  Only the fact that Bull was his entire focus kept him from jumping when the warrior swept the bottle from the table, throwing it into the fireplace with a low growl.  As the glass exploded into a thousand pieces Bull sprang from his chair, one hand wiping tiredly over his face as he began to pace.  “Asit tal-eb my ass.  In what way is me becoming the same thing as those fucking murderers I hunted the way it is supposed to be?  When I felt myself slipping I turned myself in Dorian, I took reeducation and being sent to Orlais.  I came _here_ because that’s what the Ariqun wanted and now…fuck.”

“So the Qun told you to come to Orlais, get your eye put out helping a Tevinter army runaway, put together a misfit band of mercs and then get hired on with the Inquisition.”

Bull might be many things, but even half drunk on Maaras-Lok the man wasn’t stupid.  Dorian could tell he understood what Dorian was getting at by the way his pacing hitched, his steps slowing as he rolled the thought over in his mind.  Of course, Dorian was willing to rethink the whole stupid thing when Bull finally growled, “You don’t understand Dorian.”

Dorian felt the first tendrils of frustration unfurl within him.  Veshedan, the number of times he’d been told that by Tal-Vashoth, as if somehow he was something beneath them, like he might as well have had his horns shorn off and called himself human.  With a low growl of his own he found himself on his feet, closing the distance between he and Bull in only a couple short steps.  And while the warrior might have weight on his side, Dorian was only an inch or so shorter than him and much more sober, so when he shoved Bull in the chest the warrior actually moved back a few steps.  “You know what, fuck you Bull.  The same blood runs through both our veins, the same history in our bones.  You want to sit and pout because the Ben-Hassrath used you up and spit you out you go ahead.  I have better things to do than convince you you’re a better man than that.”

When Dorian would have pushed by Bull he found his arm firmly wrapped in Bull’s grip, his eyes flying up to meet Bull’s and suddenly that inch Bull had on him seemed enormous.  Shit, had he actually just shoved a Ben-Hassrath spy?  Apparently that damn drink was stronger than he thought.  It was impossible to read the expression on the other man’s face and Dorian wasn’t sure if he should be raising a barrier up or not when finally Bull cracked, a smile lightening his expression as he chuckled.  “Fuck, you’re a feisty one.”

“Yes, well, the whole ‘you don’t understand your own heritage’ thing might be a sore subject with me,” Dorian admitted, feeling his cheeks flush.

Any hope he had of it being too dark for Bull to notice was squashed when the warrior brought a hand up to Dorian’s cheek, his callused finger cool against Dorian’s cheek.  “I didn’t mean to insult you.”

“Apology accepted,” Dorian managed to stutter, forcing himself not to lean into Bull’s touch.  Fuck, this was a complication he did not need.

“So, a question about your theory.”

“Which theory would that be?” Dorian managed to choke out, veshedan, but it was almost impossible to think with Bull still running his thumb along his cheek and the man standing so close Dorian could feel the heat rising off his body.

“The one where I’ve been making decisions for myself all along and so I don’t need the Qun.”

“Ah, yes, that one.”

Bull leaned in closer and for one moment Dorian was certain he was going to kiss him but before Dorian could decide whether that would be a good thing or a bad one Bull shifted, his mouth moving to whisper against Dorian’s ear.  “I’m wondering, if I asked you to have dinner with me tomorrow, would that count as making a decision for myself?”

Fuck, the man truly was a menace.  And worse yet, Dorian thought he liked that about him.  Shifting a step back to gain himself some space he told himself this was foolish.  For as much as he might espouse that they were both Qunari, they had nothing in common.  Surely pursuing this would only end badly.  And yet, there was that one expressive grey eye now looking at him like his answer actually mattered, and he was quite certain Bull was carrying a tension in his shoulders that hadn’t been there before.  He barely recognized the voice that answered as his own.  “I suppose that would depend on if your reason for asking is so that you can bind and collar me.”

Bull’s eye flared open for a second before a wicked grin spread across his face.  “Oh don’t worry…I’ll buy you dinner first.”

Oh yes, this was going to end badly…but it would be a spectacular ride.


End file.
